Savannah would be better for ya. You just get in trouble in Atlanta.

After Virginia Tech received their invitation to the Chick-fil-A Bowl (the old Peach Bowl, and for the rest of this blog I will refer to it as such) last month, Sage and I decided to head to Atlanta to enjoy the game and visit the town. Neither of us had ever been to Atlanta before, so we decided to make it a long weekend and get some sight-seeing in as well as watching the Hokies play the Bulldogs of Georgia. I was able to use my Delta miles to get a free flight to Atlanta, and I found a really cheap deal (only for Virginia Tech fans) at The Westin in Buckhead. We arrived Friday night and were able to navigate our way fairly easily to our hotel. Buckhead is about 8 miles north of downtown Atlanta, but it’s a fairly self-sufficient neighborhood. It’s filled with high-end malls, plenty of high-rise office buildings, and lots of hotels and restaurants. We were wiped, so we just went next door to Dantanna’s (insert your Vega$ joke here) and had a relatively good meal, made all the better by the bar having Duvel available, one of my favorite Belgian beers. (They did NOT, however, have the Duvel glass, which really ruins the enjoyment.) The bar was full of Hokie fans, something that would not be unusual to see all weekend.

We headed downtown early the next day as we had tickets to the new Georgia Aquarium at 9:00 am. On our way we walked through Centennial Olympic Park, which was a lot smaller than I what I thought it would be. Also, the Olympic Ring Fountains were fenced in due to renovations, so we missed those. We heard the aquarium gets really crowded, so we bought our tickets online a few weeks ago. It was a good thing we did as we arrived 20 minutes before they opened and already there were about 100 people waiting in line. Once in the aquarium we were able to throw our elbows around and find some room to take in the sights, and what sights they had. The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world and it has some animals we had never seen before, including whale sharks and hammerhead sharks. The tank that these are kept in is humongous, and features an underwater tunnel through the tank as well as a huge wall of glass that is 23 feet tall, 61 feet wide, and 2 feet thick. Needless to say, it was all very impressive. Other highlights of the aquarium included sea otters, beluga whales, and jellyfish that glowed with an eerie red hue.

After leaving the aquarium into a cold, gray morning that threatened with rain, we decided to see what the CNN Center had in store for us. The answer was an over-priced tour and cheap souvenirs. We decided to partake of the latter, but not the former. With time to kill before the Peach Bowl Parade, we had a light lunch, then (with the rain starting to come down) a short trip into the Marriott Marquis, the team hotel and home base for most Hokies. After listening in to a Richmond radio station’s sports talk show, we headed out into the rain to wait for the parade. We got spots very close to the beginning of the parade route and were astounded as to how long and big the parade was. They had over 15 high school marching bands from around the country; from as far as Oklahoma, California, and New York. There were also lots of cows, dogs, a few balloons, and the truly scary “Twilight Twirlers”. There were also some mini-highlights, such as seeing Phil Neikro, Miss Georgia, and the founder of Chick-fil-A. (As I said, they were MINI highlights.) Finally, after about an hour of seeing plenty we didn’t care about, the Marching Virginians arrived, and with them the Hokie Bird in all his glory. The Georgia marching band and Hairy Dawg came by after, but we shot off to get back to our hotel to rest up a bit before the game.

After a brief rest we headed back down toward the Georgia Dome. Before the game there was a Peach Bowl Fan Fest across the street which was advertised as a “giant indoor pep rally featuring cheerleaders, mascots and bands from each participating university”. There were also plenty of interactive games for the kids, and the highlight would be each team participating in a walk through the crowd on their way to the Dome. By the time we got to the Fan Fest it was a) packed, b) incredibly loud and obnoxious, and c) seemingly without any food for sale. The pep rally featured some Seacrest wanna-be who stood on a stage with both Hairy Dawg and the Hokie Bird, played “Let’s Get it Started” by the Black Eyed Peas over and over at high volumes, and constantly yelled at the crowd, saying things like, “IT’S GAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMME TIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEE!”, and, “LET ME HEAR YOU FANS OUT THERE, YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!”. After a while we decided to stand and wait for the Hokie Team Walk, which was supposed to start at 5:00 pm. We started to wait for it at about 4:45 pm, and the best we could do was to find a place about 2 rows of people from the walk route, laid on the floor with masking tape. So we waited….and waited…and waited…until finally, at about 5:45 pm the team finally showed up. And what was the hour of waiting all for? A quick glance at the Hokie players as they walked by, most of whom we could just see the top half of their heads. The entire walk took about 3 minutes.

After the walk we headed outside and across the street to the Georgia Dome. They didn’t have the doors open at 6:00 pm, 2 hours before kickoff, and there were huge lines waiting to get in. We decided to walk around the dome to see if any of the other entrances were less crowded, and by the time we did a 3/4 circuit of the dome, the doors were open and the gate we were at was a quick entry. We grabbed some foodage and headed for our seats. We got our seats thru the school, and Virginia Tech doles out bowl tickets based on contributions to the Hokie Club. Needless to say I wasn’t too surprised that we were 2nd from the last row in the upper deck. However we were on about the 20 yard line and the upper deck was nice and steep, so the view was actually not too horrible. We were getting to our seats about 90 minutes before kick off so we’d have room and time to eat our food, and of course the place was empty EXCEPT for the seats directly on both sides of us. Why does that always seem to happen? Anyway, we settled in to watch warm ups, then both team’s bands played, then the 50,000 high school marching bands also came on the field to play. Kickoff finally came about around 8:15 pm, and shortly thereafter a woman sitting in the row in front of us started puking up her chick-fil-a sandwich. I should have seen this as the bad omen it was, but at least I wasn’t the person in front of that woman, as there was some vomit to be cleaned off of her seat.

Now I normally don’t go into big discussions of Virginia Tech games, for a few reasons. First, if I start I’ll be typing for hours. Second, no one wants to read that. And lastly, one can go to TechSideline.com to get even more ridiculous talk than even I can offer. However, allow me this once to discuss the game in a little bit of detail. For those of you who didn’t, couldn’t, or wouldn’t watch, the game was supposed to be a defensive struggle, as it featured two of the best defenses in the country. (Including Tech’s defense, which was #1 in the country in Total Defense and Scoring Defense.) The game started off slow, with Georgia going ahead 3-0. Then the Hokies capitalized on a UGa interception which led to a TD. Then a long punt return by Eddie Royal set up another TD, and then a Wide Receiver Option Pass from Royal to Sam Wheeler caught the Bulldogs sleeping, and before you could say “Eat Mor Chikin”, the Hokies were up 21-3. Who would think that we would blow an 18 point lead? In the 2nd half of the regular season (a total of six games), our defense only gave up only 2 touchdowns, and a total of 29 points in those 6 games. I really didn’t feel like Georgia could score more than 10 points against us, which was why, at halftime, I felt great. More than that, I felt happy. I wouldn’t go as far as euphoric, but I was definitely on cloud 9. Perhaps it was the fact that I have yet to see VT win a bowl game in person. Also, when one travels to a bowl game, spending several nights in a city, and spending money they normally wouldn’t spend, you want to think that the money isn’t just being flushed away. Finally, this was huge for the 2007 Virginia Tech team. A win, and some other timely losses, would see us end up at 11-2 and maybe a top 10 ranking. With almost all of our defense coming back next year, and our young offense with a year of experience under their belts, we have a good shot at making some noise in the MNC race next year. In the grand scheme of things the game meant very little. But to me there just seemed to be a LOT riding on the outcome. And here we were, in Georgia’s back yard, with a crowd that was probably 65% Georgia fans, and we were sticking it to them. True, we weren’t playing great on offense, and Georgia receivers were dropping passes left and right. The game was much closer than the 21-3 halftime score, but for one of the few times (ever, I might add), I let myself think that we had the game won.

So yes, looking back, it was inevitable that we would blow it. After a 51 yard field goal that made it 21-6 midway through the 3rd quarter, Georgia made the play of the game and pulled off an onsides kick on the ensuing kickoff, recovering it, and then scoring a TD 6 plays later to make it 21-13. At this point I was getting nervous, and I think a part of me thought we were in for a choke, but then I said, “well, we’re up by 8, if we get the running game going, score another TD, maybe get some help from the defense on a turnover, there’s nothing to worry about.” But of course, that’s not what happened. What happened is that Sean Glennon, VT’s QB, turned it over on the next 4 possessions (3 interceptions and 1 fumble) which led to 18 points and essentially stuck a fork right into the Hokies big turkey ass. We managed a FG late, and had the ball with about 1 1/2 minutes left and only down by 7, but even though Glennon wears #7 just as my old friend Michael Vick did when he pulled off the Miracle in Morgantown, there was no way VT was going to get anywhere close to the end zone. So this loss hurt, and it hurt because of all the same reasons why it felt so great at halftime. I’ve seen Tech lose some tough games, but for some reason, this one ranks in the top 5 of all-time worst VT moments. (A top 5 list I’d rather not discuss at this moment…maybe in the long off-season I’ll get around to it.) So thanks for putting up with my moaning, and now back to the weekend.

The next day we slept in a bit and then met up with Sage’s college friend Jared and his girlfriend for brunch. Jared lives outside Atlanta, and he brought us to The Watershed, a quirky restaurant owned by one of The Indigo Girls. The food was good, and it was great to catch up with Jared and to meet Amy. Unfortunately the weather was pretty miserable, so instead of doing any city-stuff, we went back to the room to relax, read, and watch some football, went out for dinner and some drinks, and, considering it was New Year’s Eve, we were asleep around 11:00 pm.

New Years day we got up and headed down to Zoo Atlanta, home to one of the best gorilla zoo habitats in the country. The exhibit has four separate gorilla groups and a total of 23 gorillas in all, including 4 infants that are less than 2 years old. They even have a pair of gorilla twins who are being raised by their mother, a very rare occurrence in a zoo. We spent a long time watching the gorilla infants run around (the twins particularly looked to be a handful), and then set off to check out the rest of the zoo. The other highlight of Zoo Atlanta is a new Panda cub, Mei Lan, born a few months ago. Unfortunately the cub is not on exhibit yet, but we did see the parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang.

After the zoo we headed to The Varsity. The Varsity claims to be the largest drive-in restaurant in the country, and has been a landmark in Atlanta since 1928. Located right across the street from Georgia Tech, it’s known for its cheap burgers and hot dogs, great onion rings, and thick shakes. I didn’t find the burgers all that great, but Sage reports that the onion rings are some of the best she’s ever had. After a drive through the GT campus we headed back to the hotel to catch some bowl games and get packed for our early flight the next day.

Overall, I really liked Atlanta. Everyone was really friendly (it's no joke about “southern hospitality” down there, they mean it), it was easy to move around the city, and I kind of liked how it has several distinct areas inside the city. Buckhead, downtown, and Decatur were all interesting in their own way, and they all seemed self-sufficient as well. Traffic was a breeze to negotiate, and even when we did get lost it was really easy to figure out where we were and where we needed to go.

But speaking of getting around town, there seems to be a town joke that every other street is named Peachtree. But it’s not a joke: it literally felt that way. In our short time there, here are all the Peachtree’s we saw: Peachtree Ave; Peachtree St.; West Peachtree St. (which runs parallel right next to Peachtree St.); Peachtree Center; Peachtree Way; Peachtree Point; Peachtree Circle; Peachtree Rd.; and Peachtree Way. I guess if you order a pizza and say, “I live on Peachtree”, you may never end up getting it.

Finally, some final thoughts on the bowl. The previous two bowl games Sage and I went to were when we lived in Florida and simply drove to the games. This time, by staying in the bowl town for a few days, we were really able to experience and enjoy (for the most part) the whole bowl experience. Seeing half the town wear Hokie Orange and Maroon while walking around Atlanta was a lot of fun. (Though the crowd at the game itself was overwhelmingly Georgia, the days before and after the game saw almost all VT fans roaming around. Obviously most of the Georgia fans were just coming in for the game.) With the Hokie fans in full force we helped set an attendance record; not only for the largest Peach Bowl attendance, but also for the largest attendance ever to see a game at the Georgia Dome. That’s right…more than ever attended a Falcons game, more than ever came to an SEC championship game, more even that saw either of the 2 Super Bowls that the Georgia Dome has hosted. Virginia Tech has now helped set the attendance records at the Georgia Dome, Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, and Fed Ex Field in Landover, MD. (Yes, that’s right Dead-skins fans. The USC/VT game played in late August 2004 still holds the record for highest attended game at Fed Ex Field with an attendance of 91,665. The highest attendance the Skins have ever gotten was on 9/11/2006 with 90,608.) Too bad the Hokies lost, which makes Virginia Tech 0-3 at bowls we go to. Needless to say, if they make the National Championship next year, it might be wise for us to stay home...for the team's sake.